A recent survey showed that rural homes are now 20% more expensive than those in urban areas, making it very difficult for young people to get on the rural property ladder. This is a real concern because it means that many young people are not able to afford to live and work in villages where they grew up and are being forced to move away. This, along with issues over ultrafast broadband and poor mobile connections, means young people are abandoning the countryside in favour of places they can afford and work. It also means that our communities are becoming the preserve of the wealthy, older generations and second homeowners. Having lived in North Yorkshire all my life, and brought up my family here, I don’t want to allow this to happen. This was one of the issues discussed at a fringe event in Manchester where I was invited to take part in a panel discussion. It was an excellent meeting, and I was able to highlight how new proposals in the Housing white paper will help bring forward more small sites in villages, which can provide much needed well-designed affordable homes for local people. There was broad agreement in the room that we need to look again at viability assessments which often allow large developers to avoid their obligations to provide affordable housing.
